Instantaneous Connections
by IaspiretobeDarcy828
Summary: When Phil Coulson helps a young girl on the street he thinks nothing of it. And then he gets home and realizes his wallet is missing, starting a chain of events that all parties thought were impossible.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Amanda took a sip of her stolen smoothie, never breaking stride as she walked down the crowded sidewalk. That was the trick, she knew. To pretend like you belonged.

Amanda liked to think that she knew a lot of things, especially for a six year old. Like she knew that if your stomach was so hungry that it made you want to barf from cramps, there was nothing gross about digging through dumpsters. And that libraries were a good place to spend a cold day because you didn't ever have to buy something there. Or that you should always dress the way other people did so you didn't draw attention even if you were freezing when in the sun.

That was why she was in a purple tank top and jean shorts and walking in her sneakers without her socks.

Amanda stumbled as an overly large woman with an African skirt and crazily bushy hair waddled past her and then tripped completely as another woman, this time skinny in a purple shirt, clutching a hot dog with black nails, pushed past her while she was trying to regain her balance. She skidded painfully across the cement, feeling her skin being torn from her skin as people obliviously walked past her. Her smoothie was spilled across the cement, looking much more like cat barf now that it was out of her cup and she felt her stomach turn as if it was doing somersaults.

Suddenly a hand filled her gaze and she looked up quickly, flinching away from the offending appendage. A serious looking man with a receding hairline and impeccably (that was another thing Amanda knew, how to use _impeccable_.) clean suit.

"Thanks," She whispered, taking his hand with her own small one. His hand seemed cold and she wondered if he was an elf from the North Pole. He was a little too tall, but you never knew.

"Are you okay?" The man asked, righting her and helping her wipe off her shirt. He caught sight of her bleeding legs and out of nowhere a tissue appeared, pressed into her hand.

"I'm fine," Amanda decided, looking down at herself. Her clothes were a little dirty, but you know, so was she, so she couldn't really discriminate. "Thank you." She repeated. Because if he was an elf, then she definitely wanted to be on her good behavior. Maybe Santa would finally grant her wish this year is she was especially nice to one of his elves. She reached down and grabbed her now empty smoothie cup, holding it with sticky fingers.

"Is that your smoothie?" The man asked. Amanda nodded and he stood up fully, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "Let's go get another one." Amanda started nodding and then stopped abruptly as she thought that through.

"No thank you," She said, already backing away. Because smoothie meant paying and paying meant money and money meant wallet. "I really should be going. My mom and dad are waiting for me."

She backed away and ducked behind a broad hipped man, walking in tandem with him until she was sure she was out of the elf's vision. Then she pulled out the wallet she had stuffed into her waistband, feeling terrible. She was certainly going to be on Santa's naughty list this year.

But you know, Christmas was a long time away, and Amanda needed to eat _now_.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The only one I own is Amanda, and she's not even in this chapter.

A/N: There will be Stony and Clint/Bruce in this story. Also, this is really short, I apologize.

Chapter 2

Phil punched in his security code and took a deep breath before he entered. You never knew what you would find when entering the building that not only housed Tony Stark, but also a super soldier, a master assassin, a Norse god, a man that turned green and multiplied in size at least ten times when he got angry, and Clint.

Like the time he had come back to find Clint and Tony teaching Hulk how to do the cotton-eyed Joe. It was a testament to Tony's genius that the tower didn't collapse from all the shaking and bouncing. Phil had to leave before the headache he could feel in the bridge of his nose exploded. After that he had made a rule that the Hulk could not dance unless in the Hulk proof gym.

Phil felt the hair on the back of his neck prickling and he turned around to face Clint.

"You don't need that face," Clint informed him. Phil raised a single unimpressed eyebrow in reply. "You're I'm-About-To-Deal-With-Tony-Stark face. He went out with Steve to some crappy food store that will probably give them both food poisoning, but he's going to do it anyway because he's so incredibly whipped that he doesn't care."

"Why are you bothering me?" Phil asked, because with Clint it was never nothing.

"Perhaps because I _looooove _you," Clint offered. Phil raised one unimpressed eyebrow.

"No, that would be Bruce Banner that you're thinking of," Phil corrected. "So what do you really want?"

"I need to borrow your wallet," Clint said, making grabby hands at him.

"What for?" Phil asked suspiciously, because Clint asking for your wallet was never a good thing. It usually resulted in either money missing or your identification picture on BOLOs around the world.

"I just need the leather part, I don't even need the money, I promise, you'll even get it back." Clint said. "Maybe. You'll probably get it back. Most likely."

"Fine," Phil said, because if he didn't agree Clint would probably hold him hostage in the elevator. He reached into his pocket and felt around, fingers closing in on leather and drawing out…nothing.

Somebody had pick-pocketed Phil Coulson.

Somebody good.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The only one I own is Amanda. The rest of them all belong to someone different.

A/N: This is pretty short, but you know, it's all in the build-up. Also, reviews. I want them.

Chapter 3

Every part of Amanda hurt right now, but her stomach was absolutely killing her. It was like there was a little puke monster trying to crawl out of her stomach but whenever she opened her mouth and tried to let him out nothing came up. And her legs were impossibly itchy, she couldn't swallow without feeling the need to sob, and she was freezing.

Amanda had been freezing before, especially when it was winter time and she couldn't find an abandoned building to hide in, but she had never been quite this cold. This was the type of cold that seemed to come from inside of her and no matter how much she shivered, it would not go away.

Not that she would call what she was doing shivering. She was shaking, as if a person in side of her head was singing the "Shake the Sillies Out" song and her body couldn't help but dance along. Her blanket had long since fallen off of her but her arms didn't want to move to grab it and pull it back on.

She turned on her side and dry-retched again, feeling like someone was carving out her insides with a shovel, as if she was sand on a beach and someone was trying to mold her into something she was not. Her skin felt tight and hot and her face felt crusty from dried tears. She wanted to cry, her chest was trembling as if she was going to, but she found that there were simply no more tears left.

She wondered if she was going to die.

It seemed unfair, in a way. Other kids got to have long lives, with Mommies and Daddies that loved them and gave them treats and presents. Amanda had never gotten a present.

The door to the house she was in swung open and Amanda really, really wanted to get up, because dangerous people lived on the street, people that were mean and hurt you, but her body simply would not cooperate.

She squinted as light suddenly filled the room and then was seized by fear. Because it certainly wasn't a homeless person. No, it was someone even worse.

It was someone she had stolen a wallet from.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I would say that I owned Amanda, but that would kind of be child abuse, so I don't own anybody.

A/N: And finally, our characters meet!

Chapter 4

Phil had a tracker in his wallet. Of course he did. He was a highly trained SHIELD agent. If someone was going to take his wallet, and got away with it, he wanted to know. And not just so he could recruit them, no matter what Fury said.

That being said, for all his skill as a SHIELD agent, he was expecting to find a fully grown person who had years of pick-pocketing beneath their belt.

Not a little girl who couldn't be more than six years old, shivering on the dirty ground of an abandoned house.

Phil walked closer cautiously, because as much as he would have liked to help the girl having one run in with Charles' mutant children was enough to make even Natasha cautious.

"Please don't hurt me," The girl begged. Phil stepped closer and crouched down next to her, noting how pale she seemed and how she was shaking violently even though it was almost eighty degrees out.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Phil said, gently rolling her onto her back. She screamed, though Phil couldn't tell if it was from pain or simply from the fact that he had touched her. He pressed a hand to her forehead and it came away damp and hot. "Jesus," He swore. "What hurts?"

"Everything," The girl groaned, eyes flickering over Phil's shoulder. Phil turned around, not at all surprised to find Clint behind him. All of the Avengers had been overly cautious with him ever since he almost died by Loki's hand.

"Should I call nine-one-one?" Clint asked, his phone already in his hand.

"I think we should just take her," Phil said, mentally calculating. The hospital was only three blocks away and by the time they called the ambulance and it was dispatched and everything more time would be wasted up.

"Take me where?" The girl asked, surprisingly lucid for her condition.

"The hospital," Phil informed her shortly, curling an arm under her knobby knees and one around her back, lifting her up easily, and not because he had muscles hidden under his suit, though he did. Clint opened the door for him and Phil started the trek, hating how harshly the girl's breath was coming.

"What's your name?" He asked, trying to get her mind off of the pain. Her fingers were forming a tightly clenched fist on the shoulder of his suit and he pretended that did not clench his heart.

"Amanda," The girl gasped.

"Can we call you Mandy?" Clint asked from beside Phil. The girl nodded tightly and Clint smiled. "I'm Clint and this is Phil,"

"Pleasure," The girl said, her words forming into a moan of agony towards the end.

"We're almost at the hospital," Phil promised, taking another turn. They walked in silence until they got to the chaos of the emergency room, nursing bustling around and taking Mandy from him.

He knew he should have walked away, let everybody else deal with it. The girl had stolen his wallet, after all. He had no responsibilities towards her.

But when her pale little hand, with tiny little half rectangular finger nails reached out for him, he didn't hesitate to slide her small palm into his.

He always had a thing for orphans, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I only own Amanda, the cutie that she is.

A/N: My mom babysits, so I am around kids a lot, but just because I know them doesn't mean I exactly know how to write them, so if you I am sounding too mature or something like that, somebody please tell me so I can try to fix it. Short, but what are you going to do about it? Also, do some reviewing.

Chapter 5

When Amanda woke up, she was warm. This in itself was odd and made her scrunch her toes up in confusion. What was she doing being warm? Last thing she remembered was being really, really sick.

She moved her hand, flinching when she felt that somebody was holding it. The hand was warm too. Maybe, then, she was in the place that wasn't Heaven. She didn't want to name it, even in her mind, because that was a bad word, but maybe she was in there.

Maybe her Mommy was right, and she really was a very bad girl, and that she was at where bad girls went. That would explain why she was so warm.

"Hey, are you awake?" A low voice asked her, close to her side. She opened open her eyes and then blinked a couple of times to make them not so blurry. And then she noticed that it was The Man.

"Hi," She said. She squinted at him for a couple of seconds and then remembered that she was warm, and that she needed to find out why she was warm. She looked around and found out that she was in a big bed with a white blanket stretched over her and the smell in the air was definitely antiseptic, like the gross hand sanitizer that was always in public bathrooms.

"Mandy, can you tell me if anything hurts?" The Man asked. Amanda turned to look at him.

"How do you know my name?" She asked. The Man looked at her and moved his hand, making Amanda realize that their hands were still together.

"I brought you to the hospital," The Man said. Amanda turned to look at him quickly, shocked. The Man took her to the hospital? But her mommy had always said that she was a bad girl and the hospital wasn't for worthless freaks that doctors couldn't spend any time on because they were saving the good people of the world.

Maybe that meant that this man was good? And wouldn't hurt her?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody besides any OCs that appear in this story.

A/N: I'm not sure if I've said this before, but there will be slash and allusions to child abuse in this story, beware. Also, I may change a couple of little things in the relationship of Clint, Natasha, and Phil, like the age in which Phil found them.

Chapter 6

Phil stared down at the young girl asleep in the hospital bed. She was an incredibly beautiful little girl, with pale skin and dark honey colored hair. Phil was surprised that she had even woke up, never mine been lucid. Her list of illnesses had been pretty long. She had a kidney infection, strep throat, an ear infection, her legs, where she had gotten the cuts, were infected, and she was severely malnourished and dehydrated.

The last two indicated that she had been on the streets for a while, Phil knew. He had seen it in Clint and then again in Natasha when she had first come. Though both of them were more than capable of stealing food neither of them wanted to take the chance of getting caught.

"Did she wake up yet?" Clint suddenly appeared. Mandy twitched, her slight bird boned hand tightening around Phil's. Phil nodded and soothingly stroked his thumb on the back of her hand. "Did she say anything?"

"Not a lot," Phil said. "She doesn't remember the conversation we had on the way here and was pretty confused about why she was in the hospital."

"Have you seen the doctor reports?" Clint asked quietly, rearranging the blanket around Mandy. Phil nodded silently. He wasn't a stranger to the signs of child abuse; half of his team had been abused. But that didn't mean that it wasn't hard every single time.

"We can't let her go back," Clint continued.

"Of course not," Phil scoffed. It was almost insulting that Clint would even have to say it out loud. The Avengers had their differences and difficulties, but one thing they all had in common was that they did not condone child abuse. Ever.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I only own Amanda and I forfeit all rights to Coulson.

A/N: For those who read Nothing is Right Without Him, I apologize for the lack of editing on the last chapter. I literally had a minute to get out the door or my ride was leaving without me, and I didn't have the time to update it later. Also, I'm sorry about the short chapters, but to borrow Lady Gaga's words, I was born this way, baby. Don't try to change me. This is how I function.

Chapter 7

"So this is where you've snuck off to," Tony said gleefully, though his voice was hushed as he spoke with Phil. He glanced around Phil to where Mandy was curled up on the bed, her thumb in her mouth. "Found you."

"I wasn't hiding," Phil said tiredly, though this time it wasn't just to mask how fond he really was of Tony. He actually was tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep, as he had become accustom to the soft luxurious beds that were housed in Stark tower and the hard hospital chair was not cutting it.

"I know, it was incredibly easy to find where you were," Tony moved forward and carefully perched himself on the edge of Mandy's bed. "Steve was getting worried."

"Well, tell him all is fine," Phil said. Tony stared down at the little girl in the bed for a couple of seconds before he turned back to Phil.

"This is the girl you saved?" He asked. Mandy shifted at his words, as though she could tell that the conversation had suddenly been turned to her. Her unoccupied hand reached out towards Phil in her sleep and he grabbed the wandering hand carefully, cradling it in his much larger palm, on instinct. "She was in a bad place, before?"

"Pretty bad," Phil said. "Though I'm not sure how much she remembers."

"Well, if you need any legal help, I know a guy and you know I have more than enough money to cover any expenses," Tony said, patting Mandy gently on the leg before getting to his feet. "I have to go, Steve and I are going to check out the new burger shop down the road."

"You think I'm going to adopt her?" Phil asked, completely disregarding the last sentence.

"Aren't you?" Tony asked, though it was completely rhetorical.

* * *

"Agent Coulson," Fury appeared.

"Director," Phil nodded. Mandy's hand tightened, as unlike Tony, Fury didn't bother to lower his voice.

"Is there a reason why you have been off the grid for three days only for me to find you in a hospital with an unknown little girl?" Fury continued. Mandy's brow furrowed and Phil tried to disentangle their hands, hoping that he could redirect Fury into the hall before Mandy awoke. She had only woken up twice more since the first time, both with doctors around and Phil had been unable to have another conversation with her.

"She took my wallet," Phil reported, wishing that Mandy didn't have such a strong grip. Mandy's eyes flickered open, her blue eyes taking in the situation. Phil smiled in a way that he hoped was soothing at her. "I'll be right back, okay Mandy?"

"You know her name?" Fury asked as they went into the hall. Phil nodded. "Well, you might as well adopt her."

Phil remained quiet against the sarcasm, hoping Fury would get the hint.

"No," Fury said.

"She did have my wallet and see my S.H.I.E.L.D. badge," Phil said. "It would be a security breach to allow her to go back on the streets."

"We can make you a new badge." Fury said, clearly not buying it. "You're seriously considering taking the girl into a house like that?"

"It's better than the house she was in before, sir," Phil said, tacking on the sir at the end in hope of earning a little extra points. They stared at each other for a moment, both waiting to see the other break down.

"Fine," Fury said. "Fine. I don't want to hear it when the kid gets squished by Hulk."

Phil remained silent as he stalked away, quietly fuming. Bruce had been nothing more than perfect while living with the rest of the Avengers and it was people who antagonized him, like the Director, who made him Hulk out.

When he got his anger under control he turned back into the hospital room. Mandy was still awake, staring at him with bright blue eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Phil asked, sitting back down in his seat.

"You're going to adopt me?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: You know what's mine (an unhealthy obsession with Stony and Amanda) and what isn't (Marvel).

A/N: Ta-da! Review, por favor.

Chapter 8

Amanda stared carefully at The Man, too shocked by what she had overheard to worry about the punishment for eavesdropping. He wanted to adopt her? _Her_?

"Well, yes, I was hoping to do that, at least temporarily, if you would like that," The Man said. His large hands were folded together, resting on his stomach, and Amanda stared at them, trying to judge how much they would hurt when he hit with them.

"I don't know your name," Amanda said carefully, letting her hair fall between her and The Man. She knew it would be no help in shielding her from his fists, but it might shield her face from his eyes.

"My name is Phil Coulson," The Man said. His hand reached forward, ignoring the way Amanda flinched and pushed her hair back over her shoulder and then holding his hand out in front of her. Amanda cautiously put her hand in his and he shook. "It's very nice to meet you, Mandy."

Was it? Nice, she meant. No one had ever told her it was nice to meet her. Her mother said that she was a bothersome little troll that should have stayed underground.

"I think I'd like to live with you," Amanda said carefully. She peeked up at The Man, surprised to find that he was smiling. Maybe it really was nice, then, to meet her.

* * *

Amanda stared up at Phil Coulson as they walked. He said that they were going to their new home, and Amanda would deal with that when they got there, but what she was more concerned about was his hand. It was swinging loosely down by his side, and for some reason that Amanda didn't know, she really wanted to grab it and hold it in hers.

But Phil Coulson probably wouldn't like that, would he? But then again, he was holding her hand when she woke up. But then again, she had been injured and sick then, so maybe it was pity. But then again, it he hated her, he wouldn't have held her hand either way, regardless of if she was sick or injured. But then again, maybe he liked that she was sick and injured and the only reason he was holding her hand was because she had made him happy by being sick and injured. But then again, if he liked her being sick and injured then he certainly wouldn't have brought her to the hospital, would he? But then again, maybe he only brought her to the hospital because he was a good person and would do that for anybody. But then again…

Amanda suddenly tripped, and she put her arms out to steady herself, glancing back angrily at the crack in the sidewalk that had tripped her.

"You okay, Mandy?" Phil Coulson asked, his larger hand steadying her by her shoulders and then grabbing her by the hand, holding it carefully.

"I'm okay," Amanda nodded, holding in a smile. She liked her new, nice nickname. Phil Coulson stopped suddenly and crouched down.

"Okay, we're almost at the house, and there are three rules that need to be followed at this house by everybody, okay?" He asked. Amanda nodded. If there was one thing that she could do, it was follow the rules. She was good at rules.

"The first rule is that nobody hits anybody. Ever," Phil Coulson said. Amanda stared at him. But hadn't he just that everybody followed these rules? Did that mean that nobody was going to hit her? Of course, they could still kick her and stuff, but they wouldn't hit her. That was good.

"The second rule is that no one can take stuff that is somebody else's," Phil Coulson continued. Amanda nodded a little reluctantly. She didn't like stealing, but what if it needed to be done?

"And the third rule is to never, ever, get between Bruce and his food," Phil Coulson said. Amanda nodded. That was okay, too. She didn't know who Bruce was, but she was used to not getting food, so she could do it. Living with Phil Coulson was going to be easy. Phil Coulson turned her and she stared up in amazement at the giant building she was in front of in amazement.

"I'm gonna live here?" She asked. Phil Coulson laughed and gently scooped her up onto his hip. Amanda clenched a fist in his suit in surprise and then stared up at him quizzically. She wasn't hurt, why was he carrying her?

"You ready to go see your new home?" He asked. Amanda nodded and sent a silent wish up that this home would be better than her last one.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I only own Amanda, though I was looking through Google Images and man, would I love to own Tom Hiddleston. Or any of the other Avengers.

A/N: So, obviously, it will be a little awkward until Mandy warms up to them. Expect her to hang closely to Coulson, who she trusts, for a while until she gains a little more confidence.

Chapter 9

It was almost quiet in the Tower, Phil was pleasantly surprised to notice. It was never completely quiet, that would have been an unrealistic expectation, but right now, it was almost tame. The only sound he could hear was the TV and Tony talking over it.

"I think we should watch 'Tangled'," He was saying. The TV screen was filled with the guide, scrolling quickly down the channels.

"We just watched that," Clint complained.

"Yeah, we should watch Lion King," Steve agreed.

"Steve, you're supposed to be on my side," Tony complained, sprawling across the man's lap. Steve looked down at him with soft eyes and Phil recognized the signs enough to interrupted now before Mandy was forever traumatized by seeing them make out. He cleared his throat loudly. All eyes turned to him and Mandy's finger's tightened on his suit. He pretended his heart didn't warm.

"Guys, this is Mandy," He said. They all got up, slower than usual, but still overwhelmingly at once.

"Hi Mandy," Clint said, waggling his fingers at her.

"Hi Clint," Mandy said quietly, glad to see a familiar face.

"This is Natasha," Phil said, shifting Mandy slightly on his hip and pointing to the red-head with his free hand. "And that's Steve." Steve waved modestly. "That's Tony." Tony smiled, unusually subdued. "That's Bruce." Bruce pushed his glasses up and waved and Mandy blinked at him. "And that's Thor,"

"It is most pleasing to meet you!" Thor said in his usual volume. Mandy flinched and Phil could see Thor restrain himself from coming closer. There was an awkward moment of silence with the Avengers staring at Mandy and Mandy staring anywhere but the Avengers.

"Do you want to go see your room?" Phil asked. Mandy nodded quickly and he hitched her up higher on his hip before walking up the stairs. Mandy remained silent as he walked. "I know they're a lot to take in, but I promise, they're really nice."

"Thor is pretty loud," Mandy said quietly. Her forehead moved slowly to drop against his neck as he climbed. He probably could have taken the elevator, as Mandy's room was three floors above the common floor, but he wasn't sure what Mandy's thoughts were on elevators and he didn't want to give her a panic attack.

"He's from a place called Asgard, and I guess they're all pretty loud up there," Except for one appalling exception, who was quiet enough to sneak up on Phil.

"You mean Thor, like Norse mythology Thor?" Mandy asked, her breath ghosting over his neck and tickling.

"That's the one," Phil said. He craned his neck to look at her. "You're pretty smart, you know that?"

She didn't answer, but a small little smile appeared on her face, enough for Phil to know that she had heard him.

"Here's your room," He announced, putting his palm up to the door. JARVIS scanned it and the door popped open. "In order to open it you just press your hand against it, okay?"

"Okay," Mandy nodded. Phil pushed the door open the rest of the way and set her down on her feet. She remained quiet for a moment, standing still, and then looked back up at Phil. "This is mine?"

"All yours." Phil nodded. "Tony brought me a couple of magazines and I picked out what I thought you would like." Mandy moved in a slow circle, her mouth a small perfect o. "If you don't like it, we can change it, but I figured that you would want some stuff."

"This is my room?" Mandy repeated, walking slowly forward and observing a dresser that had been put in.

"Yours, for however long you want it," Phil said, sitting down on the corner of the bed they had gotten her. It was a little tall, he noted. Mandy would probably need a stool to get up on it, she was so small. Mandy reached out and stroked a knob on the dresser, just once and then turned to Phil, running into his arms. Instinct had him catching her and holding her close as her skinny little legs wrapped around him.

"Thank you," She whispered into his shoulder, her voice full of gratitude. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

This girl, Phil noted, was going to be trouble. Because just saying thank you made him want to give her the world.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own Amanda. None of the other guys in this story, unless a random OC pops up. (It has been known to happen, every now and again.)

A/N: So, this is my most popular story and it's freaking me out just a little bit. I don't want to disappoint you guys. But don't let my stage fright stop you from giving reviews. They encourage me. (And inflate my ego.)

Chapter 10

Mandy sat carefully on Phil Coulson's lap, afraid to fidget too much and be pushed off. She looked up, startled to see that he was looking down at her.

"What do you say to changing your clothes and then we can go down and have dinner?" He asked her. Mandy nodded and startled when she felt his fingers brushing against her back, gently touching her hair.

"Sorry," He said, his hand stilling. Mandy stared at him in confusion. _He_ was apologizing to _her_? "Do you not like that?"

"What were you doing?" Mandy asked, craning backwards to see if he was getting something off of her back.

"I was playing with your hair," Phil Coulson explained. "I can stop if you don't like it."

"I like it," Mandy decided. She slid off of his lap and went to her drawer. It had little tiny butterflies on it, three, that Mandy named Dante, Aristotle, and Burt. She opened it and was shocked to find more than one pair of clothes.

"We don't have much clothes for you," Phil Coulson said, coming and kneeling on the other side of the drawer she had pulled out. "I was thinking that we could go shopping for some tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it."

"I get more clothes?" Mandy asked, scared to even touch the ones she had right now, in case they disappeared. She picked out a pair of black comfy pants and a blue t-shirt and then glanced back up at Phil Coulson.

"Do you need help?" He asked. Mandy shook her head quickly. She was six years old, she didn't need help. She was a big girl. He smiled again and Mandy wondered if he had a really funny joke inside his head that was making him laugh. Maybe he would tell it to her, if she asked really nicely. "Okay. Then I'll meet you out in the hallway, okay?"

"Okay," Mandy said. Phil Coulson left and she spun around once. She had a _room_. It was all hers. And she had a bed. An actual bed that looked really comfy. That was all hers too. She might even get to sleep in it too.

She shook her head and pulled off the pair of sweatpants and t-shirt she was in. She didn't know where they had come from, but she folded them carefully in case they were another little girl's. The band aid on the inside of her elbow peeled slightly and she glanced at it. It was her first band aid and she was hesitant to take it off. You never knew when you would get another one. And this one had a nice little smiley face on it.

So she would keep it on. It couldn't hurt anything anyway. She pulled on the clothes and walked hesitantly to the door. What if she left and the room suddenly disappeared, like a dream? That couldn't happen, could it? But then again, she never thought that she would live in a place like this, so maybe she was wrong about everything.

"Are you okay in there?" Phil Coulson asked through the door. Mandy walked to the door and stretched up high to open it, not wanting to make him angry. He had been so nice to her. He smiled again and Mandy really really wanted to know the joke he was thinking about.

"Ready to go?" He asked, putting his hand out. Mandy stared at it for a second before she understood. Oh. He wanted to hold her hand again? She slide her hand into his and he led her down the stairs.

* * *

Mandy was amazed. She was sitting at the table and she had a place mat and a fork and they were actually going to give her food. Around her Phil Coulson's friends were walking around, going back and forth from the kitchen, and she took a brief moment to examine the colors that were always lurking in the background. Mandy had always seen the colors for as long as she could remember. They were faded unless she focused on them and they never made it so she couldn't see things. She could barely see them unless she focused.

When she did focus they were like strings, connecting people. She focused now and examined the red string that stretched from Tony and Steve, the yellow string that curled around Phil Coulson and Thor, as in Norse mythology Thor. There was a lot of strings connecting the people around her. Green and blue and yellow and red. It was beautiful really.

"What are you staring at sweetie?" Phil Coulson asked her suddenly.

"Nothing," She said, perhaps a little too quickly. She had never told anyone about the colors and she didn't plan to. Her mother had already thought she was a freak, she didn't need to do anything strange to make these people think that even more so.

"Okay," Phil Coulson said. "Here," He handed her a filled plate and Mandy stared with trepidation at all the food. She had never had this much food before. There was salad and meat and a roll.

"You don't have to eat it all Mandy," Tony said, sitting down two seats down from her. Phil Coulson sat on her other side and Clint on the other.

"Okay," Mandy whispered. She could do this.

* * *

Phil watched Mandy carefully. She was still eating but her skin was turning green. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to take away her food and for her to think that she couldn't eat in this house but she clearly was forcing it down.

"I'm done," He announced, though he was actually still hungry. He glanced meaningfully at the rest of his team. Tony caught on first and pushed away his plate.

"I'm stuffed too," He said. One by one the rest of the teams declared that they were full and pushed away their still full plates.

"Are you ready to go to the living room?" Phil asked Mandy. She nodded hesitantly and Phil saw it coming a brief moment, just enough to grab the now empty salad bowl and put it below her chin, before she puked. He went down on his knees beside her and placed a gentle bracing hand on her hip as she retched. When she finished her eyes raised fearfully up to meet his and he took the napkin Clint was offering and gently wiped off her chin. "Alright?"

"Alright." She whispered.

* * *

Phil sat on Mandy's bed, his flannel clad legs spread out across the bed. Beside him a pair of small yellow footie pajamas and a pair of blue foot pajamas were on the bed and he stared at them.

Could he really do this? Raise a little girl? He didn't really know anything about taking care of children. Obviously he still had a lot to learn. Would Mandy be better off without him? Was he ready to accept the challenge that the little girl offered?

Well, Phil Coulson had never been one to back down from a challenge.

The door to the bathroom that was adjoined with Mandy's room opened and Mandy moved cautiously in, purple towel wrapped around her chest.

"Hi," Phil said, observing her. The green shade on her skin had been washed away by the shower and a healthy pink flush had replaced it. Her long hair looked better too, revived by the shower in a way that it wasn't by the sponge baths that the nurses had given to her. The band aid was still on her arm and Phil made a note to take it off tomorrow so she didn't get an infection. "You want to put on your PJs?"

"Yes," She said. Phil leaned over and picked her up onto the bed. He handed her the pair of underwear that Natasha had bought and looked away as she put it on. When he glanced back he looked carefully over her, at the way her ribs pushed harshly against her pale skin, how her hipbones seemed to by trying to escape the confines of her skin.

"Yellow pajamas or blue pajamas?" He asked. Mandy hesitantly pointed at the yellow and he helped her put them on.

"I like these," She said, rubbing the soft fabric that was covering her thigh.

"I do too," Phil said, pulling the hood that was attached to them up over her golden ringlets and chuckling at how cute she looked. She looked so little, like a three year old rather than the six year old she really was.

"The shower was really cool," She confided. Phil nodded and slid off of the bed, tucked Mandy under the blankets and smiled.

"Sleep well," He said.

* * *

The bed was really soft and the blankets were so warm. Mandy was the most comfortable she had ever been. By all rights she should have slept the whole night through and a maybe a day as well.

She didn't.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: We all know who I own and who I don't. I own Hawkeye and Marvel owns Amanda. (Oh wait, it's the other way around.)

A/N: Keep the reviews coming. They motivate me. Also, please enjoy.

Chapter 11

Mandy slid out of bed, her foot getting caught in the blanket and causing her to fall heavily onto her stomach, her legs scraping the bed frame. She whimpered and got to her feet, shaking slightly as the nightmare replayed quickly through her mind. It wasn't the first time she had nightmares and it certainly wouldn't be the last time, but this one had been especially scary. Her mother had said that she was coming for her and she was going to take her away from Phil Coulson.

She desperately wanted to see Phil Coulson and she moved towards the door instinctually before she realized what she was doing.

Why would Phil Coulson want to see her right now?

She had never gone to anyone with her nightmares before and she didn't need to now. She was a big girl. Plus, her mother always said that she didn't deserve to be comforted.

She looked around her big, scary room and realized just how many places her mother could be hiding. She could be under the bed. Or she could be in the corner. Or she could be in the closet. Or she could be right outside the window!

Mandy moved forward carefully and opened the closet, breathing a sigh of relief when there were neither monsters nor her mother. Well, they were kind of the same thing, but either way, there wasn't either of them. She climbed into the empty closet and pulled her knees up tightly to her chest, closing the door behind her.

Sure, the dark was scary, but her mother was scarier. And it would be harder for her mother to get to her here.

* * *

Phil collapsed on his bed, exhausted. He hadn't been this tired since he had first recruited Natasha and she had required his constant surveillance since Fury didn't believe that she wanted to be there. His blankets were so soft and his pillows so warm. He fell into an easy deep slumber, so deep that he was surprised that he actually woke up when JARVIS spoke to him.

"Sir, your young charge is out of her bed and her vitals show that she is in great distress." JARVIS said. Phil dragged himself out of bed without a thought and walked towards Mandy's room, opening the door and flicking on the light.

He looked around the room, eyes lingering on the bed, and was surprised when he could not find Mandy. JARVIS would have told him that Mandy was out of her room, wouldn't he?

"Where did you say she was?" He asked tiredly, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

"It appears that the little miss is in the closet," JARVIS said. Phil cautiously walked to the door and opened it.

"Mandy?" He whispered. A small little ghost like appearance shifted in the corner. "Mandy, are you okay?"

"I'm okay," She said.

"Do you want to come out?" Phil asked, getting down on his knees.

"I'm okay here, thank you," Mandy said, her voice trembling the slightest bit, so slight that if Phil was not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent he would have missed it, but just enough for Phil to know that she was terrified.

"Can you please come out?" He asked, opening his arms for her. She slowly moved into his arms and he lifted her up, walking to her bed. As he sat down he pushed her hair away from her face so he could see her, could observe the paler than the usual pale tone of her skin. He settled her on his lap, bringing her little legs up over his own and started when he realized that her pale yellow pajamas were soaked through with blood at her legs.

"What happened?" He asked, already unzipping her pajamas in panic. Mandy allowed him to pull her legs out gently and he sighed in relief when he realized that it was only the cuts on her legs that had reopened.

"I tripped out of my bed," Mandy whispered.

"Does it hurt?" Phil asked. Mandy shook her head. "I'm going to go get some bandages, okay?"

"Okay." She said. Phil set her down gently and walked to the conjoining bathroom, conscious of her eyes on him the entire way.

* * *

Mandy stared curiously at Phil Coulson as he walked out. Did he say he was going to get bandages? Did that mean that Mandy could just have bandages whenever she needed them?

"Okay," Phil Coulson said, drawing her feet carefully out of her PJs. Mandy stared fearfully at the blood stains on the yellow fabric. How bad would the punishment for that hurt?

Right now Phil Coulson's hands were not hurting her. They were gentle, slowly wiping down her legs with a wet towel and then again with a dry one before wrapping a comfortable kind of cloth around her legs. While he worked she glanced at the window. What if her mother was trying to get in right now? Would she hurt Phil Coulson for helping Mandy and giving her stuff she wasn't supposed to have?

"There we go," Phil Coulson said, setting down her legs again. He bent down and then picked up the earlier disregarded purple PJs. They were a pretty color, but not as pretty as her yellow ones, Mandy decided. But then again, they were warm PJs, so she shouldn't really be complaining. Phil Coulson helped her into it and if Mandy wasn't so worried about speaking up and reminding him that she had made a mess of the other PJs, she would have complained. She wasn't a baby, even if she was little, thank you very much. "Okay, back in bed,"

Wait, he wasn't taking away her bed, even though she had been a bad girl?

"What about my yellow pajamas?" Mandy asked, glancing at them. Phil Coulson quickly picked them up, and then shrugged.

"We'll put them in the wash and hopefully that will get the stains out," He said. Mandy blinked at him.

"That's it?" She asked.

"Well, we can try to use bleach, but I don't really think that would work," He said. Mandy stood up on the bed, reaching her hands out when the spring of the mattress disrupted her balance, and he caught her gently.

"Aren't I going to get punished?" She asked.

"Did you do something naughty?" Phil Coulson asked. Mandy furrowed her brow at him, her face going all pinched.

"I got my pajamas yucky," She whispered.

"That wasn't your fault," He whispered back, as if they were playing a game. "You won't get punished for something that isn't your fault, I promise."

Mandy simply did not understand this man.

* * *

"Okay?" Phil asked. Mandy nodded and Phil slipped her back underneath the blankets. She glanced around him at the window again. She had probably done this at least twenty times in the space that Phil had come in. It was clear that she was afraid of something, or someone, coming in.

Mandy curled up into a little ball, her big blue eyes peering at him over the blanket shadowed with dark lines that hinted extreme exhaustion.

"Do you know how safe it is in here?" Phil asked conversationally, as if this was a conversation he had with everybody who lived here. "No one can get in the door without a passcode and all the windows are bomb proof. Do you know what that means?" Mandy shook her head. "That means that not only can bullets not break it, but a bomb can't either."

"Can people break it?" Mandy asked. Phil shook his head solemnly.

"They can't break it and they can't break into it. This place is probably the safest place in the world," He said, and he wasn't even appeasing her. Tony had technology that S.H.I.E.L.D. defense would kill for.

"Could you maybe…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

"Could I what, sweetheart?" He asked, wanting nothing more than for that horrible insecure look to disappear from her face and never show up again.

"Could you stay in here?" Mandy asked. "And protect me?"

Phil moved towards the doorway and she sighed, a horrible, heartbroken sound, and he flicked off the light quickly and returned to her.

"Of course I will," He promised. He curled underneath her blankets and pulled her against his side. She stiffened and then relaxed, a warm gentle weight against his side that warmed his heart. "I will protect you against anything that ever seeks to do you harm."


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own Mandy and only Mandy. Nobody else. Alas, that is the way of fanfiction writers.

A/N: Shopping with Natasha time! Also, I'm not sure if my fact about wolves only seeing red is correct, but I did read it somewhere, so into the story it goes.

Chapter 12

Clint stared at the door, wondering why Phil hadn't come through yet. Though he wasn't the first one up, he was never the last one up. And even Tony was awake already.

Well, at least he was out of bed. Clint wasn't exactly sure if he was actually awake. He was curled against Steve's broad chest, a cup of coffee in his hands, but his eyes appeared to be closed. Clint wouldn't put it past the man to be able to hold a cup of coffee in his sleep.

"He's awake," Bruce informed him, sliding in the seat next to him. Clint looked up, staring appreciatively at the man in a way he hoped was subtle. Bruce Banner was cute on an everyday basis, but a sleep rumpled Bruce was probably the cutest of all. Just imagining waking up next to Bruce looking like that every morning made Clint's heart feel like it was going to burst.

"You sure?" Clint asked, looking away from Bruce before he turned fully into a teenage girl.

"Yeah, I've seen him do math in a state like that," Bruce said. Steve brushed a hand through Tony's hair and Tony smiled at him with his eyes still closed.

"That's a little creepy," Clint remarked idly.

"Says the man who can sleep with his eyes open," Natasha snorted, joining him at the table.

"Where's Phil?" Clint asked her, figuring that she would know. She shrugged.

"I assume he's still in bed asleep," Natasha said casually.

"He never sleeps this long," Clint complained.

"Then go and check on him, if you are so worried." Natasha suggested. Clint got up defiantly and walked down the hall. Of course he was worried. After almost being responsible for killing the man, he felt it was his duty to make sure it didn't happen again.

Clint walked down the hall and pushed open Phil's bedroom door, surprised to not find himself face to face with a gun. Where was Phil?

"If you are searching for Mister Coulson, then I believe you will find him in his young charge's room," JARVIS announced. Clint spun around and walked down the hall to the next room, gently pushing open the door.

The view he was exposed to was quite possible the cutest thing he had ever seen.

Phil was under the black comforter that Tony had put on as a substitute until Mandy had found one that she liked, and his arm was carefully curled around the thin little girl in his arms. Mandy's head was pillowed on his chest, her thin arms crossed over her own, her forehead just brushing Phil's chin. Both of their eyes were closed in peaceful slumber.

It was adorable, Clint mused, pulling out his phone. Like when you see a fearful Doberman curled up with a kitten.

He snapped a quick photo of the two and started to move backwards.

"Send me that," Phil suddenly said. Clint glanced up and nodded before closing the door behind him.

Phil could pretend that he never smiled all he wanted, but everyone who lived with him knew the truth.

He was just a big ole softy at heart.

* * *

Mandy stabbed a ball of scrambled eggs and put it in her mouth, contemplating.

Phil Coulson had stayed with her all night. He had protected her all night.

Mandy supposed that she trusted him now.

She took a bite of her toast and nodded to herself. Yep, it was official. Phil Coulson was the first person Mandy had ever trusted.

"When you're done, we're going to go shopping with Natasha, okay?" Phil asked her. Mandy looked up from her food and glanced around the table, her eyes catching on the red head before she nodded at Phil.

If Phil wanted to go shopping with Natasha, then Mandy wanted to go shopping with Natasha. Phil would protect her if Natasha tried to be mean.

Right? That's what people who you trusted did?

* * *

Phil did not understand how he had ever thought of Mandy as quiet.

She had not stopped talking for longer than two minutes since they had arrived at the store, trailing behind him and Natasha as they thought of everything she could possibly need. It was a little bit impressive, and a lot bit sad that she had managed to keep herself quiet for as long as Phil had known her. It was clear that talking came naturally to her.

"Which one?" Phil asked her, pausing her story about the woman she had seen once who was walking five little Chihuahuas all at once. Mandy stared carefully at the two different towels he was showing her.

"The green one, I think," She decided. Phil put the red one away and tossed the green one into the cart. "You know, red is the first color that humans see and the only color that wolves can see besides black and white?"

"I did not know that," Phil said, which was all Mandy needed to continue on a new tirade. It was actually quite adorable, the way she didn't seem to need to take a breath between sentences.

Phil stared at the cart, trying to imagine what else they needed. They had already picked out a couple of cups for her, a tooth brush, a new bed set (that sported the Avengers, to Phil amusement), body wash and shampoo, a couple of pairs of shoes, and many more things that made Phil immensely glad that Tony was a billionaire. It wasn't as if it was anything frivolous, it just was a lot.

Parenthood was expensive.

* * *

Natasha waited as Phil parked the cart, keeping her excitement in check. Sure, she was an assassin, but she was also a woman, and she was pretty sure that all women, regardless of their occupation, liked the idea of going shopping with little girls.

"Okay, last but not least, clothes," Phil said, picking Mandy out of the cart. She grabbed his hand and looked around, big blue eyes wide.

"I don't really need new clothes," Mandy said. "You don't need to buy me anymore stuff."

"You need more clothes," Phil said. He plucked at the shirt Mandy was wearing. "As cute as you look in that, I do not want to see you wearing it every day."

Phil set off into the many aisles and Natasha went the other way. Divide and conquer, she devised. She picked out a couple of outfits that would look adorable on Mandy. The difficult issue was that Phil had told them that Mandy was six years old, but she looked nothing like a six year old, and that made it hard to guess what size to get her. She grabbed a couple of different sizes of each outfit and wandered back to find Phil and Mandy.

"What size did you get?" She asked Phil.

"I wasn't sure what size, so I grabbed a whole bunch. Would you take her into the dressing room to try them on?" Phil asked.

"Sure," Natasha said, though a bit reluctantly. She didn't really want to be on her own with Mandy, but not because of reasons people would think. Natasha liked children. She just wasn't very good with them.

She accepted the pile of clothes Phil handed her and started towards the dressing rooms, glancing back to make sure that Mandy was following her.

"Is this your little girl?" The old lady at the counter asked. Natasha glanced down, surprised.

"My niece," She lied smoothly. It was close enough. She figured one day Phil would actually adopt her, and then Mandy would be as good as.

"Well, she's just adorable," The lady said, handing Natasha the key to the dressing room. She took it and opened the door for Mandy.

"Do you have any kids?" Mandy asked her as Natasha dumped the clothes on the bench inside the room. Natasha glanced back at her as she stretched up on her toes to close the door.

"No, I don't have any kids," Natasha said, pulling the hanger off of one of the outfits, her eyes down and intent on the hanger. "I'm not very good with children."

"Well, I think you are," Mandy informed her. Natasha looked up and Mandy smiled at her.

Natasha knew that it shouldn't have made her feel so good, that this little girl, who obviously did not know much about how people should really act towards children, thought that she was good with children.

But it did.

* * *

Phil glanced up from his phone and caught sight of the people coming towards him, smiling when he realized that it was a red head and a little girl with their hands linked together, both of their heads tilted back in laughter.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own only Mandy. Nobody else. The rest of these wonderful, wonderful characters, are not mine.

A/N: Here we are. Thank you to all of the people who reviewed. I now have fifty reviews and I become ecstatic whenever I think about it.

Chapter 13

Tony watched as Mandy rushed into the room, picked up two more of the bags, and ran back into her room, where Natasha, Clint, and Phil were waiting. He had done the math, and unless he was wrong, and he was never wrong, or unless they had some major setback, he concluded that Mandy would trust all of the Avengers within a week. The only figure he couldn't figure out was what day he would be trusted. He was eager to become one of the select few that Mandy trusted, and not just because he liked being a part of elite groups. It was also because he liked children. Sure, they were messy and required a lot of time, and they required being responsible, but Tony thought that they were adorable and kids and him got along greatly.

Mandy darted back into the room and scooped up another bag before turning back again, slamming into Steve's thigh.

"Sorry," Steve said, looking down from the tablet he was tapping into. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mandy squeaked, her head craned backwards to meet Steve's eyes.

"Do you need any help with that?" Steve asked, gesturing towards the pile of bags. Mandy shook her head and darted past him again.

"Hi Steve," Tony greeted him, raising a hand. Steve smiled up from where he was watching Mandy leave and sat next to him.

"Hi," He said, threading a hand through Tony's hair and pressing their lips together. Tony kissed him enthusiastically for a while, wondering how he could be so lucky. Not only did he have a family, but he had Steve.

"I'd probably stop before Mandy comes back again," Bruce remarked idly. Tony continued to kiss Steve, content to ignore him, but, sadly, his boyfriend had morals. He pulled away and pushed Tony off of his lap gently. Tony settled next to him on the couch and curled into his side, opening back up the work he was doing on the tablet and deleting the math.

He didn't need math to know that if he had found a family in these people, there was no way that Mandy, sweet, adorable little Mandy, wouldn't.

* * *

Phil shifted as Mandy climbed up onto his lap, her slightly wet hair, in tight braids thanks to Natasha, exuding the strong scent of oranges. He put his arms around her and placed his chin on the top of her head, looking at his cards around her.

Tony put a card down on the table and Steve placed an identical number on top of it. Phil glanced at the card and then turned to the little girl in his arms.

"Which card Mandy?" He asked. Mandy's little warm hands covered his as she looked at the cards and then she pointed at a card. He grinned and placed the card on top of the pile, watching as Clint realized he had just been told to draw two cards.

"Mandy!" He squawked. Mandy jumped and pressed herself further into Phil's chest, though she met Clint's eyes. "I thought we were friends."

"Don't make her feel bad just because she knows how to play UNO," Steve grinned. Phil glanced down at her, wondering how, exactly, she knew how to play. He doubted that her mother had played with her. Mandy was watching the cards be put down carefully, her blue eyes narrowed slightly, and he realized that she had just learned by watching them. She really was a very smart little girl.

"I win!" Tony suddenly announced. Phil looked up, sure he hadn't heard him say Uno.

"You didn't say Uno," Bruce said.

"As long as no one catches you, you don't have to say Uno," Tony said.

"Cheating," Steve frowned. "You're such a cheater,"

"I am resourceful, not a cheater, thank you very much," Tony said.

"We should play another game!" Thor demanded. Phil glanced at the clock and shrugged. There was still a while before they needed to feed Mandy and put her to bed.

"One Mandy can play this time," Natasha said, getting up and going to the hutch that was filled to the brim with games. Natasha smiled. "I want to see her kick your butts."

* * *

Mandy stared at the board. She needed to buy one more property, and then she would have all the money she needed. But right now she was completely out. Her poor little piece had been sent to jail three times already.

A piece of paper slid into her hand and she looked up, startled to find Tony winking at her. She looked down at the paper her fingers were curled around and smiled.

He had given her money. She could win this game now, because he had shared with her.

Everybody in this house was very nice to Mandy. Mandy wondered why that was, exactly. She hadn't changed since when she was living with her mother, but none of these people had said that she was a naughty girl.

"Your turn Mandy," Clint told her. Mandy stretched up to see the board on the table, and when she couldn't see, climbed into Tony's lap cautiously. When he didn't push her away, she continued to play the game.

Maybe this was the way she was supposed to be treated, then.

Maybe this was how families were.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I only own Mandy and this story that has somehow miraculously gotten over fifty reviews. I do not, however, own the rest of the characters in this story.

A/N: Please review. I love them.

Chapter 14

Pepper stepped into the tower and looked around. It was disturbingly quiet in here. Tony couldn't have possibly killed all of them in a week without anybody noticing, could he?

She wandered up the stairs and was met by another silent room.

"JARVIS, where are they?" She asked, placing her bag down on the table.

"The Avengers are all located in the gym on the fourth floor," JARVIS told her. Pepper wandered through the rooms, picking up the stray pillow and placing it back on the couch, not even considering that the pink blanket thrown over the couch was out of place. It was probably just Tony's idea of a joke. She had worked for him long enough to know not to question things that looked out of place.

Pepper walked to the gym and stalled for a moment in the doorway, hoping that she would get the chance to look at them for a second before they noticed her. Sure, she was a professional, but there were some fine men on the Avengers and no woman, not even her, could not resist watching such men workout.

To her surprise there was a little girl on the treadmill closest to the door. She took a moment to observe her. She was a small little girl, golden hair in a long braid down her back, in a white tank top and black shorts, her outfit exactly identical to Phil's, Pepper noted with amusement. She would have been worried at having a child on a treadmill, if it weren't for the fact that it was on the slowest speed and there was a huge pile of pillows behind her.

Suddenly it occurred to her that it was not normal for a child to be in the gym with the Avengers. Why was she here? If this was Tony's illegitimate daughter, she was going to kill him. She had warned him to be careful, but did he listen? Of course not.

She stepped in the room and the girl glanced over at her before flinching visibly. The rest of the Avengers looked up slower, glancing at her.

"Hi Pepper," Tony gasped from on top of the treadmill.

"Hi Tony," She said, glancing curiously at the little girl. Tony followed her eyes and shrugged.

"Hey Mandy, you want to come wrestle with me?" Clint asked, moving away from the punching bag he was using. Mandy nodded and jumped off of the treadmill, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her away, glancing back at Pepper once before she disappeared from view.

When she was gone Pepper turned to look at Tony, her eyebrows raised.

"Please tell me that is not your child," She begged. She could only imagine the field day the press would have with that. And poor Steve would be badgered about it forever.

"No, she's Phil's," Tony said, waving a hand at the man, who was effortlessly running on the treadmill beside him.

"Technically, she's not mine," Phil explained. "The adoption papers haven't come in yet. They're still finishing the detective work on her mother."

"Ah, but you wish her to be!" Thor claimed loudly from the other side of the gym.

"You act like it's only me," Phil remarked mildly, not denying it. Pepper stared at the door that Mandy had left by, wondering what exactly about this little girl had melted the previously stoic agent.

* * *

Mandy rolled over Clint and he made an exaggerated noise of pain. She giggled, the noise the cutest thing that Clint had ever heard, and Clint grabbed her around her tiny waist, flipping around and pinning her, all the while watching closely for signs that he had gone too far.

She didn't even flinch.

It was hard to reconcile this Mandy with the timid little thing that they had met just a week ago. She was so happy and he wouldn't say confident, but she was certainly surer of her worth. And she looked healthier too. A week of regular food and water had done her good. _A week_. He couldn't believe that it had only been a week since she had come to live with them. It was impossible to even imagine life without Mandy anymore and as equally impossible to imagine Phil without Mandy anymore. The little girl had changed him, and for the better.

"I got you," He growled, looking down at the girl who dominated his thoughts. She wiggled half-heartedly.

"What're you going to do with me?" She asked. Clint tickled her sides and she shrieked with laughter.

"Mercy!" She screamed, her words punctuated with crazy laughter. "Have mercy!"

"Then you'll have to pay the price," Clint said, not stopping his tickling.

"Anything!" Mandy agreed. Clint put a hand on his chin, pretending to ponder while his other had continued relentlessly. "Please! I'm gonna pee!"

"You are not," Clint said, sending her a look. "I think my price is six kisses."

"You have to stop or I can't kiss you!" She reminded him, squirming. Clint raised his hand contemplatively.

"Fine, but do it quickly," He ordered. Mandy pressed six hurried kisses to his cheek and then crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"I really do have to pee," She informed him. He laughed and hauled her up onto his hip, holding her with one arm.

"Let's go then," He said. Mandy put her arms around him and sniffed.

"You stink," She informed him. Clint frowned, mock offended, and poked her belly.

"You don't smell too well yourself," He said. Mandy giggled once and then fell silent, looking up at his contemplatively.

"Who was that woman?" She asked.

"That was Pepper," Clint said. "She works with Tony."

"Oh," Mandy said, pursing her lips. "Do you trust her?"

"I do," Clint nodded. Mandy shrugged.

"Then I guess I trust her too," She said. Clint shook his head.

How could she trust them so completely after only a week?

But then again, it had only taken him, the man who trusted very few, a week to trust his family as well.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I only own Mandy and we all know that she really belongs to the Avengers.

A/N: Okay, so I hate Pepper, which is perhaps the reason for this, but for some reason I imagine her being a part of the Avengers' friend group, but not a part of the Avengers' family. Anyway, that's reflected in this chapter. This chapter is mostly fluff until the end.

Chapter 15

Pepper wandered into the kitchen, knowing that Steve would most likely be in there preparing dinner, and by proxy Tony would be in there with him. In her hand she held a couple important papers that needed to be signed by him immediately.

She stepped through the door way and took a moment to observe what was happening. Any place where Tony Stark lived was bound to be chaotic, but with the Avengers added in Pepper always liked to take a few moments to understand what was happening before she joined into a conversation.

Tony was, as she thought, in the kitchen, sitting on the counter and talking to Steve as Steve stood at the oven and stirred something around in the pot. Bruce was also in the room, at the fridge, pulling stuff out and tossing it onto the counter beside Tony. The little girl, Mandy, was sitting at a small table in the corner, mixing something with a spoon with adorable concentration. Pepper examined her for a moment, taking into account Tony's explanation of why she was living with them. She didn't _look_ like an abused child, which Pepper was pretty certain thanks to the Avengers and their love.

Tony looked up and caught sight of her and smiled, waving her in.

"Hello Pepper, light of my life," He greeted her. "You wouldn't happen to have any coffee, would you?"

"You said Steve was the light of your life yesterday," Mandy informed him, looking up from her bowl. "And Steve said no more coffee today."

"At least somebody listens to me." Steve said drily, walking past Mandy and smoothing a hand over her head. The movement was practiced, familiar. "How's the cake going?"

"Almost all the clumps are out," Mandy said, peering into her bowl. "Is it going to be done before Phil gets home?"

"It should be," Tony nodded, absently signing the page that paper pushed underneath his hand. "You remember what time he said he'd get home?"

"He said at six o'clock," Mandy remembered.

"And the cake says that it takes thirty minutes," Tony said. "So how long should we have between the cake finishing and Phil getting home?"

"Fifteen minutes," Mandy said instantly. Bruce held his hand up for her and she slapped it happily.

"You know, if you keep getting smarter, you're going to be smarter than Tony is," Steve told her. Mandy shrugged modestly and Tony squawked, pushing the paper's back into Pepper's hand, and got to his feet.

"You're supposed to say that you could never be as smart as me!" He accused Mandy.

"But I might be," She said. Tony gasped, dramatically, and scooped her up easily, holding her against his chest and placing a loud raspberry on her. She shrieked. "I meant when I'm older!"

"You may be smarter, but I can still torture you with raspberries," Tony told her, planting another loud one on her. She wiggled and giggled loudly as Pepper watched curiously. She liked to think that she knew a lot about Tony, as she had been working for him for over five years now, but she had always thought that Tony Stark and children was not a good idea. He seemed too careless, too immature, to care for one. But watching him make Mandy laugh like that, his hands careful on her, made it clear that Pepper was wrong. Tony seemed to be a natural with children.

"Stop!" Mandy begged. "Please!"

Suddenly the door opened and Thor came into the room, eyes scanning carefully around the scene.

"I will save you, fair maiden Mandy!" He shouted, plucking her easily from Tony's arms and swinging her up onto his shoulders. Mandy grinned down at Tony from his shoulders, and Pepper felt a slight thrill of jealous.

The deal was, Pepper could tell just how great of a family the Avengers were to each other. She could see the positive effect it was having on Tony. And she kind of wanted it. Who wouldn't? Who wouldn't want a family that would take care of each other and have each other's backs like that?

But she was a grown woman, and she could tell that she was not a part of this family like the rest of them were. She accepted it. But that didn't mean that she didn't feel slightly jealous that this little girl had managed to do what she couldn't and win them all over so quickly. Because it was clear that all of the Avengers loved that little girl dearly. She could see it in their eyes every time they looked at her.

Pepper shook away her morose thoughts, knowing that it was foolish of her to be jealous of this little girl. Besides, this little girl deserved a family like this and Pepper was glad that she had found one.

* * *

Phil parked the car and stepped out, trying to control his eagerness. He used to think that one day missions were short, but now that he had a little girl waiting for him to get home, every hour seemed to take ten times as long as it usually did.

He jogged up the stairs and went to the communal living room, stepping into the room and looking around. A small little body slammed into him and his arms were scooping her up before he even thought about it.

"Hi Phil," Mandy smiled at him, her arms tight around his neck.

"Hi baby," He said, shifting her more securely on his hip and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Missed you."

"Missed you too," Mandy beamed at him. Her hand went up in her signature position of her fingers tangled into the hair at the nape of his neck as he walked over to the couch and sat down with her in his lap.

"Hi," He greeted Clint. Clint flickered a gaze at him, grunted, and then refocused on his video game.

"He's trying to break a record," Mandy told Phil.

"Yeah?" Phil asked, pushing a strand of her hair back. It was in two cute little ponytails today, curtesy of Natasha, because the rest of them were all men that could not do a hair do to save their lives.

"Yep," Mandy nodded. She leaned closer, her voice lowering conspiratorially. "Except he's been at it for a while. He started before Steve and Bruce even started making dinner."

"What're we having today, Chef Mandy?" Phil asked. Mandy glanced over his shoulder and then shrugged.

"Dunno. I think some type of spaghetti thing." She said. "Natasha, do you know what we're having?"

Natasha stepped into the room, not even bothered by the fact that Mandy could tell when she was outside of the room coming in anymore, and shrugged.

"I do not know," She said. She turned to Phil. "Did you grab the mail on the way in?"

"No, I forgot," Phil said, curling an arm around Mandy. He turned and patted Clint on the thigh. "Go get the mail, Clint."

"Busy," Clint grunted. Phil reached over and pushed down the off button. Clint sent him a wounded look.

"You've had enough electronic time," Phil said. Clint sighed and got up dramatically. Phil watched him until his attention was reclaimed by Mandy, who began to tell him in great detail what he had missed.

"And then, Tony said that-" Mandy broke off and stared over Phil' shoulder. "Clint? What's wrong?"

Phil turned around, knowing that if something was enough to make it so Clint's mask of indifference failed him that it was something big. Clint was indeed pale, an envelope held limply in his fingers. Natasha got to her feet and walked over, reading the envelope and swearing in Russian. Mandy's fist curled tightly in Phil's suit, her face worried. Phil got to his feet, shifting Mandy to the hip farthest away from the envelope and reading the first line.

It was every bit as bad as Clint and Natasha were making it seem.

Because Mandy's mother was trying to regain guardianship.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I own Mandy, and Mandy only. Any other recognizable characters ARE NOT MINE!

A/N: I love the reviews that you people are giving me. Seriously, keep it up. Also, I meant to give you an extra chapter this week, but it's not happening because we lost power for all the days I had off from school in which I intended to do this extra chapter.

Chapter 16

Mandy watched Clint carefully, trying to figure out what was wrong. She knew that something was, even though he had changed his face so she couldn't tell anymore. Everyone's colors were sort of surrounding her, a little bit like a hug and a little bit like a trap. Clint smiled at her, but it wasn't his usual happy one.

"You want to go get ice cream?" He asked her. Mandy stared at him for a second and then shrugged. She really had nothing better to do. Obviously dinner was going to be a while, because Steve hadn't even set the table yet. Clint scooped her up and bounced her, making Mandy laugh. The laugh was mostly for him, because right now Mandy was not in the mood to be bounced. She just wanted to know what was going on.

Clint carried her into the kitchen, where they were all talking and instantly stopped when Mandy walked in.

"Hi," Phil said, smiling. It was a wrong kind of smile, sad and a little bit lopsided, and it made Mandy's skin crawl. What was going on? What was wrong with Phil?

"We're going to get ice cream," Mandy informed them, watching Steve. Usually Steve didn't let her have ice cream before dinner, because he said it would spoil her appetite. But Steve didn't say anything, just kept his forehead against Tony's, his eyes closed.

"Have fun," Phil said, walking over and planting a kiss on her head. Mandy frowned, not feeling very hungry for ice cream anymore. Something was making her family sad, and she didn't like it one bit. Even Thor was quiet.

It must have been serious.

* * *

Mandy licked absently at her chocolate ice cream, swinging her legs. She and Clint were sitting on a bench in the park and it would have been fun, except Clint was still not in a happy mood. Had Mandy done something wrong? Had she been bad and now they were all sad because she was actually a really bad girl and now they knew it?

Clint shifted and put his heavy arm around Mandy's shoulders. Mandy pursed her lips, thinking. Clint wouldn't put his arm around her if she was bad, would he? Maybe that wasn't it. But what else could it be?

She took a bite of her ice cream and frowned. She didn't like how quiet Clint was.

"Clint?" She asked. He turned toward her.

"Yes baby?" He asked. Mandy shifted a little closer and tried to think of something to say.

"I think you should tell Bruce that you love him," She said. Clint choked on his ice cream and looked at her a little closer.

"And how do you know about that?" Clint asked, raising an eyebrow. Mandy did the same.

"You're hardly subtle," She informed him. Clint laughed and pulled her up onto his lap with one hand, the one not holding his ice cream. Mandy settled against his chest. Clint definitely wouldn't hold her on his lap if she was being bad. "But I really think you should tell him."

"Why's that?" Clint asked, a smile now on his face.

"So you can be happy again," Mandy said simply.

* * *

Mandy hovered by Phil's knee, hesitate in a way that she hadn't been in a long time, and Phil made himself push away his anxiety. He had to trust the law and Tony's army of lawyers. They would make sure that Mandy stayed with them.

The idea, though, that Mandy could be taken away from them, that Mandy's mother's lawyers could be better and somehow hide all of the evidence, kept nagging at him. He could not stand the idea that Mandy could be taken away from them and put in a place that was harmful to her.

"Come here baby," Phil scooped up Mandy and she settled against his chest, curling up into a ball of warm soft heat. "I have something that we need to talk about." Mandy stiffened in his lap and looked up at him, her fist clenched in his shirt.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, her big blue eyes filled with worry.

"Of course not," Phil soothed, pushing a curl back behind her ear. Mandy frowned, eyeing him with deep concentration.

"Then why do I have to go away?" She asked, her voice heartbroken. Phil felt his heart pang. There was no way that she could leave them. They wouldn't be able to take it. One thing that Phil had noticed about the Avengers- once they loved something, they did not let it go.

"You don't have to go away," He promised the little girl in his arms. "But your mother wants to take you away to go live with her again."

He watched her carefully, but her face was calm, her blue eyes divulging nothing. Phil craved desperately to know what she was thinking of.

"But you won't let her get me, right?" Mandy finally asked. Phil's heart melted and broke in the same moment. He prayed that the next words he said were not a lie.

"Of course not."


End file.
